Town Enchantment
This article is about beneficial Town Enchantments which the caster places on their own Towns. For spells that hinder the economy of a rival Town, see Town Curse. Town Enchantment is a Spell Type and category of spells in Master of Magic. Like all other enchantments, Town Enchantments are meant to have a persistent positive effect - lasting as long as the Enchantment remains in play. Spells in this category are intended to be used on the caster's own Towns, to offer them protection, or improve their contribution to the Wizard's empire. Apart from two exceptions noted below (which may also be used in combat), Town Enchantments can only be cast on the overland map. They typically have low-to-medium Casting Costs, and must always be targeted at a friendly Town, to which they will give their benefits. Once they are in effect, a certain Upkeep Cost must be paid in at the start of each turn, to keep them in place. Failure to pay this cost results in the Town Enchantment dissipating, usually taking all of its effects with it. There are a total of 16 different Town Enchantments in Master of Magic, spread across the different Realms. The Realm specializes in these, having no less than 7 Town Enchantments, most of which are quite powerful; while has the fewest, with only a single one. Wizards can attempt to get rid of rival Town Enchantments by casting or on the tile of any enchanted Towns. A player may also cancel their own Town Enchantments at any time during their turn (although not while in combat), to conserve when necessary. Usage Town Enchantments are designed to be used on the overland map, and all of them can be cast this way. They need to be targeted at a friendly Town, and may not be cast on a Town that is already under the effect of the same enchantment. The one exception is , but in this case warding against each individual Realm is considered to be a separate enchantment by the game. If Spell Animations are enabled in the game's Settings, successfully casting a Town Enchantment will typically open the cityscape view of the targeted Town, where a short animation will introduce the spell's visible effect on the City. This will then remain present on the cityscape as long as the enchantment is in play. Most Town Enchantments are represented by a new structure that appears among the Town Buildings, but some alter the environment of the cityscape instead. In addition, the enchantment's name, printed in the banner color of the maintaining Wizard, is subsequently displayed in the city enchantment window whenever the City Screen is opened for the Town. To keep it active, each Town Enchantment requires an Upkeep Cost, to paid in at the start of each turn. The game will automatically deduct this from the caster's pool or income, but if it fails to do so (due to a lack of ), the spell, along with its persistent effects, will be removed from the Town immediately. Combat Casting Two Town Enchantments can also be used in an unconventional way, by casting them during combat. These are , and . They become available whenever a battle is taking place in a friendly Town that is not already under their effects. As a consequence, they can only be cast this way while defending against a siege. When cast during a battle, both spells have a significantly reduced base Casting Cost (20% of the overland cost - and respectively). They provide the same effect as the overland version, however the walls will only last until the end of the battle. Once combat is finished, the spells dissipate automatically. Since they do not carry back over to the overland map even if the battle is won, they will not incur an Upkeep Cost either. Getting Rid of Town Enchantments The owner of a Town Enchantment can voluntarily cancel it, by opening the City Screen for the Town, and clicking on the spell's name in the city enchantment window. This ends the spell immediately (after a confirmation dialog), and is usually done in order to conserve . If the game can't deduct the spell's Upkeep Cost, the enchantment will also be removed automatically, although if it has any permanent effects, those will remain in either case. Wizards may cast the or spells in an attempt to remove an opponent's Town Enchantments. When used on a tile with a Town, these spells will target every Town Enchantment present. A separate dispelling attempt is then made by the game against each individual enchantment, fizzling any against which it succeeds, but leaving untouched the ones for which the attempt fails. The chance of success depends on the invested into the disenchant, versus the Casting Cost of the Town Enchantment. Effects Town Enchantments typically serve one of two purposes: they either increase a Town's productivity, or protect from some kind of danger(s). The opposite of this are Town Curses, which cause damage or hindrance to a Town, and can only be cast on rival Towns. Combat Only Effects Some Town Enchantment effects apply only during combat specifically at the enchanted City - and will otherwise have no effect during the campaign portion of the game. These spells are often only worth keeping if the Town is expected to see plenty of combat in the near future, although they may occasionally also serve as a deterrent against AI Wizards. Specific spells that have this type of effect are , , , , and ; the last two of which, as mentioned above, can actually also be cast while a battle is already underway. The effects of and can also be gained otherwise during combat, as they duplicate the and Combat Enchantments respectively. Economy and Productivity Other Town Enchantments provide the Town with various bonuses to its output. Many of a Settlement's economical contributions can be improved by one spell or another: * Unrest: , * availability (and as a consequence, Maximum Population): * Population Growth: (indirectly), * : * (from Town Buildings): * income: Protection In addition to the combat only effects described above - which ultimately all offer some form of protection to the Town -, there are a few defensive Town Enchantments that exert an effect on the overland map instead. can protect a Town from the ill-effects of nearly any spell from the Realm it is chosen to ward against, in addition to preventing hostile Fantastic Units from that Realm from even initiating combat against the City. It can also be cast multiple times on the same Settlement to defend against more than one Realm. offers similar protection against spells from the and Realms, which coincidentally include all of the game's Town Curses. In addition, both and actively work to remove any from the tiles in the City's catchment area. Utility extends the sight range of a Town to 5 squares in every direction, which is the largest such range possible in the game, although a bug in the latest official ve4sion unfortunately causes this to be overridden if an Oracle is also present in the City. and both provide an extra method of movement for troops entering an enchanted Town: the former by allowing them to shift to and from the same square on the opposite Plane, and the latter by letting them instantly teleport to any other City bearing the same enchantment that is also under the control of their empire. Permanent Effects Finally, two Town Enchantments have effects that, when triggered, yield a permanent change that will not be undone even if the enchantment is removed; although technically all of the productivity-boosting effects could also qualify here, since the resources they have already garnered are not taken back if the spells expire. They simply stop producing more. While an is present in a Town, all Normal Units created there will start the game with the maximum possible amount of allowed for them: . This typically yields units, but under the effect of the Warlord Retort or the spell (or both), it is increased even higher. This change is entirely permanent, if the enchantment is removed, the units already created will not lose this . The other Town Enchantment with a permanent effect is . This spell grants multiple benefits, one of which is the possibility to change "hostile" terrain around the City into more hospitable types. This is not a certain effect, meaning that it merely has a chance to trigger every turn; but when it does, the alteration is permanent. Tiles changed by the enchantment will not revert to their original types if the spell dissipates for any reason. List of Town Enchantments The list below details each of the 16 Town Enchantments available in the game. Category:Spell Types Category:Town Enchantments